So here's your project. Go watch Batman Forever (I know, I know; just keep telling yourself, "It's better than Batman and Robin!"). Then, come back here and help me decide if it was Jim Carrey's acting or the awful, awful dialogue he was given that destroyed his character.
I mean, really. "It keeps me safe when I'm jogging at night!" What the fuck?!
EDIT: Action Max has been showing it like three times a day for some reason [ 09-21-2003: Message edited by: Sentow, Maybe ]
The Batman producers, having made ample money from actually good movies, had more than enough to fuck the entire series with two more movies.
)Batman - Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson as The Joker
Batman Returns - Michael Keaton, Danny de Vito as The Penguin
Batman Forever - Val Kilmer (omgwtfbbq??), Chris O'Donnell, Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face, Jim Carey ad The Riddler
Ratman and Robin - George Clooless... err.. Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Alicia Silverstone (wtf were they thinking??), Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, Arnold Schwarzeneggar as Mr Freeze
Who was the best villian in the movies?
For me it's gotta be big Jack as the Joker, but a very close second was Tommy Lee Jones (but only cos I like his style as a whole).
They went downhill from there.
The problem is, the people making the movie really didn't understand the characters, and how they should work. The Batman Animated series does a good job of making the characters tick, and the movies would have done much better if they had coppied that.
The way they made the Riddler was more like a (bad) mix of Riddler and the Mad Hatter.
Batman (1966)
Based on the farcical campfest Batman TV series, this movie pits the caped crusaders against four - count 'em, four! FEEL THE HEAT, SCHUMACHER! - villains. Including such howlers as, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb," this is a pretty fun way to spend 90 minutes if you aren't expecting something serious.
Batman (1989)
Tim Burton's first take on the Dark Knight, featuring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Basically, it kicks ass.
Batman Returns (1992)
Burton's sequel features an alliance between the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfieffer, oo la la). Not quite as good as its predecessor, but still a great flick.
Batman Forever (1995)
Joel Schumacher's batdebut. The series took a turn for the worse as the dark, gritty milieu of Gotham gave way to a colorful setting fraught with neon and a more lighthearted tone. To give you an idea of what it's like, try to imagine what would happen if Adam West had played Batman for Tim Burton.
Though not completely hopeless, it was still pretty bad.
Batman and Robin (1997)
Featuring the least compatible villains yet (Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Bane), this example of cinematic retardation includes such scenes as Bruce Wayne pulling a credit card with the batlogo and an expiration date of, "FOREVER." Spare me.
According to rumour, Schumacher's only knowledge of Batman prior to 1995 was from the campy 60s series. AND A BAD ACID TRIP, APPARENTLY.
"Batman 5" (2005?)
Folks, I have no idea. But apparently it goes into production next year.
EDIT: Damn you, Abbi. [ 09-21-2003: Message edited by: Sentow, Maybe ]
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Based on the excellent animated series from Warner Bros. animation, Phantasm pits Batman against (surprise!) the Phantasm, a murderous, engimatic vigilante hellbent on destroying one of Gotham's syndicates. Despite spending half its script in flashbacks, and being paced such that it could be sliced into four half hour episodes, Phantasm is still a battreat worthy of Mr. Kane himself. Incidentally, Mark Hamill (yeah, THAT Mark Hamill) steals the show as he reprises his role as the Joker.
quote:
Mr. Parcelan had this to say about pies:
Foolish Abbi. You forgot Catwoman.
That I did... must have been cos her part was so memorable...
They totally fucked up Bane. The biggest, baddest Batvillain. The guy who was smart enough to figure out who Batman was just by surveying the area where Batman always seems to leave towards. The guy who broke all the nutsos out of Arkham(or.. whatever) just to wear down Batman so he could pick his place to strike. The guy who figured out how to get into the Batcave through the Mansion. The guy who broke Batman's freakin' back and put him out of commision.
And he was grunting idiot who didn't say a word after he was injected with Venom. Not to mention he was a scrawny little punk before he got injected with it.
quote:That part might've been accurate. But yeah, they really downplayed him. What's worse is, if Arnold played Bane, and acted smart, then the actor would've fit the part, but the whole movie would focus around him, and the writers obviously wanted someone who'd threaten to take over the world, ahahahahahaha!~ lame. Instead, they put the big man in as Mr. Freeze, who was supposed to be physically average except for the suit. It's not like they *needed* a strong actor for Freeze. Everyone who gets punched or kicked goes flying on wires anyway.
When they turned on the Infinite Improbability Drive, Snoota suddenly said,
Not to mention he was a scrawny little punk before he got injected with it.
Now for the original question. Carrey's acting in Batman Forever followed the same style as his other movies. It lacked his usual improv lines, though, because the scripted lines were too corny already for him to throw in more jokes. So if you think the movie had good jokes that were presented badly, blame Carrey. But if you feel the jokes themselves sucked, along with most of the rest of the movie, then blame the script/people in charge.
quote:
A sleep deprived Ford Prefect stammered:
It's not like they *needed* a strong actor for Freeze.
but the suit looked heavy =p
quote:
ACES! Another post by Sentow, Maybe:
DAMN IT.Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Based on the excellent animated series from Warner Bros. animation, Phantasm pits Batman against (surprise!) the Phantasm, a murderous, engimatic vigilante hellbent on destroying one of Gotham's syndicates. Despite spending half its script in flashbacks, and being paced such that it could be sliced into four half hour episodes, Phantasm is still a battreat worthy of Mr. Kane himself. Incidentally, Mark Hamill (yeah, THAT Mark Hamill) steals the show as he reprises his role as the Joker.
That was a great flick imo
Also with what Palador said about Batman Returns. Penquin was the exact opposite of how is character is supposed to be but at least De Vito played it out the character angle right instead of trying to switch back and forth between the intelligent, sophisicated Penquin of the comics and the crude often times feral Penquin of Returns.
On a different note, Mask of the Phantasm was really good. I can't say I've followed Batman too much in the comic scene and the flashbacks of Phantasm helped clear up a lot of the questions about Batman that I had.
The first Batman movie? Rocked. Faithful to the broad notion of how the Joker became the Joker. None of the other live action movies did that.
Phantasm was loosely based on comic stories. Bruce DID have a girlfriend and she WAS tied into some bad shit. Not like the Phantasm, but to be honest I wouldn't mind if it had gone that way in the comic.
And therein lies the difference between the live action movies and the animated series (and movies). The animated series has ADDED to comic story. Harley Quin was added to the comic based on her popularity in the comic. Poison Ivy is a genius in the cartoon, whereas she was a valley girl in the old comics and Uma Thurman turned her into a sexpot. Two-Face, Clayface, Riddler...animated series gave them all a shot in the arm.
Live action made a farce out of the characters.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
How.... Maradon!.... uughhhhhh:
I thought Carrey was an awesome riddler
Ditto.
One more thing. The only thing I hated about Batman is they killed off the Joker. [ 09-22-2003: Message edited by: Freschel Spindrift ]
quote:
Freschel Spindrift's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
[QB]Also his rents weren't killed by explosives.QB]
If I remember correctly, in the movie they weren't killed by explosives either, they fell while trying to get the explosives out of the circus.
[/URL]
Micheal Keaton as Batman was kinda hard to grasp at first, but I think he did it well. George ruined the role. I would say so much that Val was better at Batman than him. Catwoman was just off. I don't know the real background so I can not say if it was accurate.
Batman 5...argh.
